Persecution follows in the wake of 2023 law imposing draconian punishments on homosexuality.
Uganda’s LGBTQ community is facing intensified persecution following the enactment of harsh anti-gay laws two years ago, according to an international NGO.
In a report released on Monday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Ugandan authorities have “perpetrated widespread discrimination and violence” and “spread misinformation and hatred against LGBT people” since the 2023 law was enacted.
The 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act made consensual same-sex relations punishable by up to life imprisonment and “aggravated homosexuality” punishable by death.
As the legislation took effect, rights groups and international partners condemned the law and withdrew funding.
The HRW report says the government has followed up the legislation with a campaign of persecution, detailing widespread police abuse, including harassment, extortion, and arbitrary arrests based on perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity.
HRW found that the law has ramped up already existing abuse and discrimination against LGBTQ people to unprecedented heights. The report also detailed the rights violations enabled by the law and the devastating effect it has had on the lives of LGBTQ people, activists, allies, and their families in Uganda.
During the months leading up to and following the law being passed, the Ugandan authorities, including high-profile political and government figures, used traditional and social media to spread misinformation and hatred against LGBTQ people, the report notes, leading to an uptick in attacks and harassment against them and LGBTQ rights groups.
“For the last two years, LGBT Ugandans have suffered a range of abuses because of the government’s willful decision to legislate hate against them,” said Oryem Nyeko, senior Africa researcher at HRW.
“The Ugandan authorities need to urgently improve this environment, which enables a wide range of human rights violations and puts countless Ugandans at serious risk of abuse.”
The interviewees reported a surge in threatening messages.
“People would keep on calling you [saying]: ‘We know where you stay. We know what you do,’” one told HRW.
Another activist described how online threats escalated until three men broke into her home in 2023, attacking her and sexually assaulting her friend.
She told HRW that one assailant said: “You make me ashamed to be Ankole. If we want, we can kill you and no one will look for you.’” Ankole is one of Uganda’s main ethnic groups.
Other Ugandan rights groups have reported similar patterns since the law’s passage.
Within 24 hours of its enactment, eight cases of physical and sexual violence, including corrective rape, were identified, according to Kampala-based DefendDefenders.
“The number of requests [for assistance] is overwhelming,” a staff member told HRW.
Prominent LGBTQ organisations were also targeted, according to the report, including through group bans, staff arrests, and harassment of lawyers representing queer clients.
HRW contacted government, legal, and police authorities but received no response.
